Smaller cities to retire in Northeast? (graduate, friend, years, adult)
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NorthEast is a very broad concept. It starts from South Jersey, all the way to Maine and Buffalo, NY. Almost all small Northern cities are plagued by blight since industries left them long ago. But some are "improving." That means -- gentrifying -- which means higher cost. Some are not improving, but actually getting worse. Trenton, Waterbury, Hartford, etc.
The ones that are improving are still a mixed bag. Most still have a dual personality -- a cute and touristy downtown, with some restaurants, galleries, and maybe even a 1920 Beaux Art Theater (e.g. Paramount), surrounded by almost ghetto, where you would not want to walk at night and jingle your $ 20 CVS watch.
So, it depends if you can stomach some life and/or property damage risk and live smack-dab downtown, or 5-10 minute drive away (a.k.a. suburb.) You can only answer that after you have visited a few.
I'll give you an example -- Troy NY, 20 minutes north of Albany. about 50,000 people. It is trying to portray itself as "little Brooklyn," it has remarkable 19th Century architecture, but walk a few blocks away from the hoity-toity shops, and you may not have the stomach to endure people throwing trash on the road, potholes, or loud yelling at night on the streets, or at the bus stop.
Northeast is filled with Troys.
Stamford CT is an exception. To me Stamford looks more like a western city, although it is just a spillover from Wall Street. Unless you enjoy walking around large modern sky-scrapers, Stamford is not appealing to me, if you like walking along historic and architecturally significant streets. Stamford is really limited in these.
I would check out New Hope, PA......small town in Bucks County PA about 40 miles north of Philly. A tourist attraction based mainly on their quaint downtown, arts and antiques, so you would need to not be bothered by tourists.
Also, Princeton, NJ, which is obviously a college town and as others have said, I would look at other college towns.
Silver Springs is the wrong side of DC imo. Look at Bethesda instead or even DC neighborhoods in the northwestern quadrant of DC.
Washington DC neighborhoods in the northwest quadrant can be quite nice with extensive lovely trees - very pretty - but apartments are pretty expensive.
I wouldn't recommend choosing Washington DC as a city to live in though. The inner city traffic is too often brutal, often gridlock bumper to bumper moving only inches at a time, soul-sucking, making it often impossible to not only make it somewhere, but to make it to something on time or in a timely manner. And for those who like buses rather than subway, the buses are often maddingly in traffic gridlock and thereby, very late or do not show up at all! Plus the small particle inner city air pollution of DC is not good for your health and lungs, same with the heavy vehicle exhaust.
I lived there for 5 years right before I retired, and in the NW quadrant. With climate change, you'll find it too hot and humid; more days that are 90+ and 95+ and 100+ with heavy humidity are increasingly making it too brutal. And during the winter, a mere one-inch or two-inches of snow shuts down the city making transportation a big headache, and the not infrequent ice storms make the city quite dangerous.
Not to mention random murderers roaming the streets.
Last edited by matisse12; 06-05-2017 at 05:48 PM..
Washington DC neighborhoods in the northwest quadrant can be quite nice with extensive lovely trees - very pretty - but apartments are pretty expensive.
I wouldn't recommend choosing Washington DC as a city to live in though. The inner city traffic is too often brutal, often gridlock bumper to bumper moving only inches at a time, soul-sucking, making it often impossible to not only make it somewhere, but to make it to something on time or in a timely manner. And for those who like buses rather than subway, the buses are often maddingly in traffic gridlock and thereby, very late or do not show up at all! Plus the small particle inner city air pollution of DC is not good for your health and lungs, same with the heavy vehicle exhaust.
I lived there for 5 years right before I retired, and in the NW quadrant. With climate change, you'll find it too hot and humid; more days that are 90+ and 95+ and 100+ with heavy humidity are increasingly making it too brutal. And during the winter, a mere one-inch or two-inches of snow shuts down the city making transportation a big headache, and the not infrequent ice storms make the city quite dangerous.
Not to mention random murderers roaming the streets.
Pretty dire description of NW DC.
Most of the stuff you mentioned is not that relevant if you are retired, because you can avoid or wait it out.
Ithaca NY. College town, breathtakingly beautiful, the lowest-educated adult resident probably has three PhDs, no crime. I don't like small towns or cold weather, but if I did, Ithaca would be my top choice.
I would check out New Hope, PA......small town in Bucks County PA about 40 miles north of Philly. A tourist attraction based mainly on their quaint downtown, arts and antiques, so you would need to not be bothered by tourists.
Also, Princeton, NJ, which is obviously a college town and as others have said, I would look at other college towns.
Silver Springs is the wrong side of DC imo. Look at Bethesda instead or even DC neighborhoods in the northwestern quadrant of DC.
Those places sound good to me.
I was going to say somewhere around Northampton in WMass but it's really cold there, colder and longer and darker winters than in Stamford. There's a great downtown and lots of culture (Smith College, Mt Holyoke, Amherst College, etc.) and it's cheaper than the sky high prices of Boston at the other end of the state.
Ithaca NY. College town, breathtakingly beautiful, the lowest-educated adult resident probably has three PhDs, no crime. I don't like small towns or cold weather, but if I did, Ithaca would be my top choice.
Ithaca actually is like a small city. And I fully agree -- it is very pretty up there, if you don't mind harsh winters with some "lake effects."
Finger Lakes are beautiful, and inexpensive to live.
My wife and I are currently retired and temporarily living in Stamford, Ct, paying $3000/mo for a very nice 2br/2ba 1300 sqft, courtyard apt. What we like about the area are the excellent libraries, theatres, art facilities and related cultural events as well as the walkability. What we have to address somehow is the extraordinary cost of living.
I've done some amount of research on moving to other cities that have a similar cosmopolitan feel like Philly, Providence, New Haven, Wilmington, Silver Springs, but crime send to be a persistent issue. I was wondering if anyone is retired in an area (neighborhood) in the NorthEast that had the lifestyle that we are looking for with a reasonable cost of living. Initially we will be renting but then we will be buying some one level, low maintenance home. Thanks for any recommendations it suggestions!
I think the Ithaca idea is a good one. I would also take a couple of days to look at Montpelier, VT and Middlebury, VT. They might not be a huge improvement on cost of living, and maybe they're not busy enough for you, but you might be pleasantly surprised - at least about the activities and amenities available.
Oh brother........I'm sure you can find "crime" anywhere- if you're looking for it-just like you could find some perfectly acceptable areas in any of those cities you mentioned. I seriously doubt the nicer areas in any of those areas are "crime" infested- You could say the same about any city anywhere- just stay out of the "hoods and projects" and you most likely would be ok. I recently had to defend my city about being the heroin capital of the northwest or some such crap- like I would know a drug dealer if he bit me on my azz.
This is an example of crime rates in Center City Philadelphia. The other cities are worse. It's tough on the psyche living in relatively high crime areas during retirement. I lived like this my whole life and would like to retire, if possible, with less stress. Just checking out the possibilities.
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